CONNECTWISE
How ConnectWise and NP Digital increased ROAS of paid search by 100%.
In late Q2, ConnectWise and NP Digital collaborated on a reforecasting exercise to better inform MQL target setting with search demand and historical data.
+166%
Increase in SQO conversion rate, triple digit increases across all regions.
+100%
Increase in ROAS. Pipeline also increased +68%.
-25%
Decrease in the cost per SQO. Heavy budget on highest SQO driving campaigns maximized cost efficiency.
THE COMPANY
ConnectWise is the world’s leading software technology company dedicated to ensuring the success of IT solution providers.
With multiple software and solution offerings across North America, EMEA, and APAC, more global IT services providers choose the ConnectWise platform over any other to deliver superior solutions for their end customers. ConnectWise was recently recognized by Best PSA Vendor, Best RMM Vendor, and Best Quoting Vendor by ChannelPro, in addition to winning 2022 Fortress Cybersecurity Awards in the Leadership, Analytics, Endpoint Detection, Incident Response, and Network Security categories. ConnectWise’s growth and acquisition efforts are supported by over 100 campaigns across paid search, display, discovery, and performance max, with the objective of driving qualified leads (MQLs) and pipeline.
THE CHALLENGE
Paid search campaign performance was historically measured by MQL volume and blended Cost per Lead across 7 products and 3 regions.
Quarterly targets were established based on Sales Quotas, agnostic to product-level or regional nuances in performance (which varies greatly region to region based on size of the TAM). Furthermore, volume based MQL targets were not validated by search demand, which made aggressive growth targets unachievable at current performance levels and efficiency. In late Q2, ConnectWise and NP Digital collaborated on a reforecasting exercise to better inform MQL target setting with search demand and historical data. The result of this analysis initiated a shift in focus from quality to quantity, balancing the need for MQL volume with the need to improve SQL and SQO conversion rates to drive more pipeline from our MQLs. ConnectWise & NPD agreed to make a massive shift in optimization strategy, prioritizing campaigns with high SQO conversion rates over those with high MQL volume and low CPLs.
Prior to this point, pipeline impact had historically been measured by channel but not mapped back to specific campaigns. This crucial data gap meant all campaigns were treated the same, despite some contributing higher quality leads and more pipeline impact in the mid-bottom funnel. But the larger task of integrating Offline Conversion was resource-intensive and expected to take several more months until ConnectWise’s CRM data was fully integrated in platform.
In lieu of this automation, NP Digital agreed to take on the manual task of mapping front-end Paid Search performance and spend to MQL, SQL, SQO, and Pipeline contribution for hundreds of campaigns.
THE SOLUTION
NPD worked with the internal ConnectWise Data and Marketing Ops teams to export reports from their internal Power BI platform that contained specific campaign identifiers.
Identifiers that included campaign codes, product purchased, and region performance. These would allow us to map back investment by campaign at a granular level, including brand/nonbrand, campaign type, product, and region. Ultimately, this closed-loop reporting allowed NP Digital to map back historical investment by campaign to mid-funnel KPIs and direct-sourced pipeline.
This missing data connection enabled NPD to differentiate campaigns that were previously thought to be supporting MQL volume at target CPLs from those campaigns that were actually converting into SQOs and pipeline. It was also the first time ConnectWise had gleamed insights into the efficiency of their investment via Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), since efficiency was previously reported at the top-of-the-funnel by CPL and CPMQL.
Not only did this analysis enable a more strategic approach to optimization, it also allowed NPD to cut costs by reallocating funds from high-volume, low-quality lead sources into lead sources proven to convert more efficiently into SQOs. In total, NPD’s analysis identified over $180,000 in savings per month that was reinvested into our highest SQO-producing campaigns/products:
- North America: Paused 6 campaigns, reallocating a savings of $151,798/mo. into top performing Automate, Manage and Fortify campaigns.
- EMEA: Paused 7 campaigns, reallocating a savings of $19,875/mo. into top performing Automate, Manage, and Sell campaigns.
- ANZ: Paused 4 campaigns, reallocating a savings of $11,180/mo. into top performing Automate and Recover campaigns.
THE RESULTS
This analysis informed a shift in optimization strategy that helped NP Digital deliver the strongest Paid Search pipeline contribution in the last 12-months.
Following initial implementation in June 2022, account-wide SQO conversion rates saw triple-digit improvements, while global ROAS increased 20%.
- +166% increase in SQO conversion rate, triple digit increases across all regions.
- +100% increase in ROAS. Pipeline also increased +68%.
- -25% decrease in the cost per SQO. Heavy budget on highest SQO driving campaigns maximized cost efficiency.
ADDED VALUE
In addition to increasing pipeline impact and efficiency, these findings earned the team executive buy-in for a more flexible approach to managing campaigns across different products and tactics.
RECOGNITION
Winner, 2022 Best SEM Campaign.
“Closing our data gap has allowed us to truly optimize our paid media efforts, globally. The NPD team is a pleasure to work with and we’re looking forward to what the future holds.”
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